"Increasing participation has positive impacts for the Scottish economy, and the Scottish Government remains focused on delivering better employment prospects for all.

"I am pleased that female employment level has increased significantly in the past year. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure women have the same opportunities in the labour market as their male counterparts, and have access to quality sustained work in careers they choose.

"Youth unemployment figures continue to improve. Our ambition however, is to reach and move beyond pre-recession levels through the implementation of our long-term youth employment strategy.

"Whilst Scotland continues to have a higher employment rate than the UK as a whole, today's figures show a slight increase in unemployment on the previous quarter.

"This can be explained, in part, by falling levels of economic inactivity, which is now at an all-time low, as more people join the labour market and start looking for work.''